The smoking one-hopper hit by Texas Rangers centerfielder Ruben Mateo in the fourth inning was right at Marlon Anderson. At least, it was until the Phillies second baseman pirouetted away from the ball, allowing it to roll under his glove. The official scorer's decision was announced: Hit. The crowd of 5,314 at the Phillies' 5-4 exhibition win yesterday over the Rangers booed even though manager Terry Francona later granted Anderson absolution: "That was a pea. If he had stayed in front of it, he might have been killed.

Kyle Abbott gloved Doug Dascenzo's fourth-inning bunt and turned toward first. All he saw there was another loss. John Kruk, standing alongside a surprised Abbott, shook his head at the painful sight of an uncovered bag. Mickey Morandini, realizing that his mistake was beyond redemption, halted his belated sprint and dropped his head. "Those things will turn a game around," Darren Daulton said after this one had. The Cubs turned Morandini's miscue into two runs on their way to a 3-0 victory over the Phillies yesterday at Wrigley Field.

Lockers were being searched. Ditto for equipment bags. Any second, guys were going to be lined up against the wall for grilling and frisking. OK, so the concern had not reached that stage in the Phillies' clubhouse, but a glove was missing for a second straight day and the owner wanted it back. Not just any glove, mind you. It was the glove belonging to second baseman Mickey Morandini, the glove with which he had turned the only unassisted tripleplay in Phillies history (and the ninth in baseball history)

Two days before they pack up and leave Florida, the Phillies still don't know who their second baseman will be when they open the regular season a week from today in Phoenix. Though nothing is official, Marlon Anderson appears to have lost the job because of subpar defensive play, and his chances of making a late push are slim. Anderson has missed four straight games with shinsplints and is likely to miss several more as camp winds down. Mickey Morandini, currently on a minor-league contract with the Montreal Expos, is the man the Phillies want.

The good news for the Phillies is that Mickey Morandini, the remedy to their second-base ills, is available for a trade. The bad news is that the Montreal Expos, who currently have Morandini under contract, are out to show the baseball world that things are different now that new owner Jeffrey Loria has taken over. The days of the Expos giving away players are finished. And they're using Morandini to prove it. "Something has to give," admitted manager Felipe Alou, who has two major-league-caliber second basemen, Morandini and Jose Vidro, who want to play every day. "But we won't be giving [Morandini]

Tommy Greene's season has been much like the Phillies'. There was a brief moment of early promise, but then, for more than four months, little but pain and frustration. Now Greene and the Phils are left to squeeze whatever tiny measure of hope they can from this miserable year. In his first big-league start since May 12, Greene did just that, providing some rare late-season encouragement. The righthander threw five shutout innings as the Phils defeated a rejuvenated Doc Gooden and the New York Mets, 2-1, last night at Veterans Stadium.

Sometime around 10:45 a.m., amid the doughnuts and yawns of a Sunday morning clubhouse, Wally Backman's loaded cigarette blew up in his face. Like a shot from a starter's gun, the mini-explosion signaled the beginning of a rather unusual day for the Phillies. The pivotal moment in the game that followed occurred on a throw to first base that never took place. And when reliever Wally Ritchie ended the Phils' 6-3, 11-inning victory over the Houston Astros yesterday, it marked his first save in five years.

Baseball got back to business yesterday. A mere 24 hours after unveiling a bold future that includes interleague play, the clubs returned to the workaday world of the present by exchanging figures with players who are eligible for salary arbitration. The Phillies swapped numbers with their four arbitration-eligible players: Second baseman Mickey Morandini submitted a figure of $2,200,000. The Phillies offered Morandini $1,375,000, a gap of $825,000. Reliever Heathcliff Slocumb, the subject of recent trade talks with the Boston Red Sox, asked for $1,690,000.

Shawn Boskie pitched better last night. That, of course, is like saying Eddie the Eagle landed a foot farther down the hill. The Phillies pitcher had been shelled for 12 runs in the 3 1/3 innings that comprised his two most recent starts. To improve on that, he required little more than a pulse. Hardly overpowering, but exceedingly resourceful and occasionally fortunate, Boskie rebounded strongly, limiting the Marlins to six hits and a single run in nine innings while the Phillies defeated Florida, 5-1, at Veterans Stadium.

If the regular season started today, Mickey Morandini would be the Phillies' second baseman. Already, though, there are those in the Carpenter Complex clubhouse who believe that before spring training is through, newly acquired Mariano Duncan will have stolen the job away. At this point, anyway, Phillies manager Jim Fregosi is not among them. "I don't know what everyone was expecting from him, but I thought Mickey Morandini had a really nice year," Fregosi said yesterday.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Forever remembered in Philadelphia for their contributions to the 2008 World Series championship, Jamie Moyer and Matt Stairs will author a new chapter this season as Phillies broadcasters. The two popular former Phillies were hired Tuesday by Comcast SportsNet. They replace venerable broadcasters Chris Wheeler and Gary Matthews, who were dropped from the booth last month by Comcast. Moyer and Stairs have little experience in TV work, but they have instant cachet with fans.

LAST WEEK, Matt Stairs announced through his Twitter account that he was headed to today's Wing Bowl at the Wells Fargo Center. But it turns out he has some business to attend to in Philly, too. Stairs, a member of the 2008 world champion Phillies, will interview with Comcast SportsNet for the vacant TV broadcasting job, according to an MLB.com report. Stairs, 45, retired as a player after spending the 2011 season with the Washington Nationals. He worked as an in-studio analyst for NESN in Boston during the 2012 season.

The goal has not changed for Mickey Morandini. The role might. Morandini, 47, still wants to be a long-term member of the Phillies, the team that drafted him out of Indiana University in 1988. He is preparing for his first season as a coach at the team's triple-A Lehigh Valley affiliate after serving as a minor-league manager with short-season Williamsport (2011) and low-A Lakewood (2012-13) the last three years. Last week, however, a curveball was thrown at Morandini in the form of a phone call.

LAKEWOOD, N.J. - The first thing you notice is how Carlos Tocci's white Lakewood BlueClaws jersey hangs from his lean torso. A few hairs dot his face - the result of two months without shaving. His English is timid, but the 18-year-old Venezuelan laughs when he hears the word cheeseburger. "I'm the skinniest guy here," Tocci said through a translator. "But, I mean, a lot of these guys have six or seven years on me. " It is what makes a .211 batting average and .513 OPS entering the weekend superficial because Tocci survived.

WHEN DEALING with minor league prospects, it is important to remember that patience is the key to long-term success. Now in his second season in the Phillies organization, outfielder Larry Greene has experienced both ups and downs over the course of his first 2 years. Greene, 20, has yet to live up to his personal expectations at Class A Lakewood but believes it is all part of the process of adjusting to the next level. Greene was selected 39th overall in the 2011 MLB Draft out of Berrien County High School in Nashville, Ga. While he was expected to be drafted between the second and third round, the Phillies selected the lefthanded slugger at the end of the first round for his raw ability and potential at the plate.

BEFORE ONE INNING, Danny Jackson sang happy birthday to a random fan. After another, a collection of 1993 Phillies sang a pretty awful version of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame. " Before the game, they took their positions on the field, with Mariano Duncan and Mickey Morandini sharing second base, just as they did 20 years ago. An announced crowd of 37,235 fans descended upon Citizens Bank Park on Sunday night. They came for nostalgia, stayed for the baseball. But the baseball was so bad during Alumni Weekend in South Philly that the people in the promotions department may want to find 28 more memorable seasons to celebrate in the remaining home dates on the 2013 schedule.

It's a hot mess down at One Citizens Bank Way these days. As a distraction from the team that is melting away faster than the Nazi's face in the final action scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark , the Phillies offered some blasts from the past the last few days. It started with Brad Lidge's retirement ceremony Thursday night and will culminate Sunday with the recognition of the rambunctious 1993 National League champion Phillies. It was a lot more fun listening to Danny Jackson, Mickey Morandini, Jim Fregosi, and Lee Thomas reminisce about that enchanted season two decades ago than it was watching the 2013 Phillies play an Atlanta Braves team that has buried them in the standings.

LAKEWOOD, N.J. - You won't find Willie Carmona's name on any list of prospects. You will find him in the middle of manager Mickey Morandini's lineup just about every night at low-A Lakewood. Exactly what that means for Carmona's future rise through the Phillies organization remains to be seen. "He's a college guy who is probably a little older for this league," Phillies assistant general manager Benny Looper said. "You never know about those kinds of guys. If they keep hitting, some of them might end up in the big leagues one day. He's not a real high-profile prospect, but his bat is coming on. " The 22-year-old Carmona, in fact, has been Lakewood's hottest hitter for quite some time.

It's the second and much less publicized in-season form of organization building. In two days, the race is on for big-league clubs to sign international players, with the biggest prizes typically being 16-year-old kids from Latin American countries such as the Dominican Republic and Venezuela. That's arguably how the best position player in the Phillies' farm system joined the organization, although third baseman Maikel Franco wasn't considered one of the elite Latin American prospects when he signed for $100,000 in the fall of 2010.